Bombing at Far-South festival opened by Deputy Interior Minister

A BOMBING occurred in the vicinity of Tadika Relations Festival in southern border Narathiwat province this morning (May 3) just before Deputy Interior Minister Sabida Thaiset presided over the opening ceremony with senior provincial officials also present but fortunately there were no injuries, Amarin TV said this evening.

At around 9.30 a.m. a loud explosion was heard at the edge of a fruit orchard about 40 metres away from the rear of a tent selling products at this festival which took place at Al-Hidayah Mosque, Rueso district.

Villagers and vendors who came to join the event and sell their products all ran away in chaos, with some of them screaming as they did so.

After the explosion, officers brought iron sheets to block traffic at the scene of the explosion and waited for Sabida to arrive and preside over the opening ceremony and join the activities with this proceeding smoothly without the Deputy Interior Minister knowing about the explosion a little earlier.

At 2 p.m. officers from Anothai Bomb Disposal and Explosive Ordnance Disposal units used metal detectors to check the site of the bombing and found another bomb placed ten metres away from the first one that had exploded. After detonating it, officers found that both were packed with steel pipes, weighing one to two kilogrammes, and were to be detonated with a foot pedal system.

Officers believe this is the work of violent insurgents who had planted the two bombs to ambush them as there would be tight security for the Deputy Interior Minister. However fortunately the first bomb malfunctioned and exploded before harming anyone and the second one was found and destroyed.

CAPTION:

Deputy Interior Minister Sabida Thaiset attending the Tadika Relations Festival today (May 3) after a bomb exploded in the vicinity. Photo: Amarin TV